Copperajah, the Copperderm Pokémon. This Pokémon was brought to Paldea long ago by people from a faraway land. It's so strong that it can easily pull an airplane. Copperajah are prideful, cantankerous Pokémon. Specimens with vibrant green skin command the respect of others of their kind.

Overview

After a starring role in the 8th generation as the ace of the main antagonist’s team (and his significantly goofier brother), Copperajah has had an understated return in the ninth generation. A bit surprising considering how enormous Copperajah is, and not only in stature. Base 130 Attack is immense, even by modern standards, and Copperajah’s movepool is flush with coverage options for just about every opponent. Couple in either Heavy Metal for one of the most consistently powerful Heavy Slams in the game, or ratchet Copperajah’s power up even further with Sheer Force. Defensively Copperajah is just as titanic; Pure Steel typing is always good defensively, and a hearty base 122 HP ensures Copperajah can always tank at least one hit. Add in a robust disruptive movepool including the always great Knock Off on top of a hazard shuffler options with Stealth Rock and Whirlwind and Copperajah is not only powerful but flexible in what roles it can perform.

Yet for all Copperajah’s good HP and typing, it finds itself wanting for bulk. Base 69 in both defenses nearly ruins what defensive viability Copperajah would have, greatly limiting its hit taking ability. No reliable recovery further exasperates Copperajah’s situation, making it incredibly easy to wear down and with such poor defenses, not difficult at all to shave chunks off Copperajah’s HP. Yet Copperajah must rely on its bulk as its base 30 Speed is utterly atrocious. Being outran by even defensive staples means in just about every engagement Copperajah is taking a blow before acting, making its bulk even more important than ever. What hurts most though is what Copperajah lost in the generational transition. Without Dynamax, Copperajah lost access to its signature Max Move and unique entry hazard, which unlike other gimmick-based signature moves, Copperajah did not get a replacement for. This loss of Power Whip was also a significant blow, depriving Copperajah of its main answer to the Ground types that directly threaten it as well as the Water types that soak up its Steel STAB. Speaking of STABs, Steel is a rather poor offensive type, leaving Copperajah’s best weapon often failing it when it likely needs it most. While Copperajah boasts impressive power and support, its lacking defenses and being forced to use them holds it back.
Positives
Base 130 Attack is brutal. Copperajah hits hard regardless of investment and can boost further with Sheer Force.
Impressive moveset with nearly all the physical coverage one can ask for along with a potent hazard control game.
Base 122 HP and Steel typing present an impressive defensive profile, allowing Copperajah to tank a few hits.

Negatives
Poor Base 69 defenses and no reliable recovery ensures that it is only a few hits and nothing more.
Base 30 Speed is abysmal, ensuring Copperajah is moving last in almost any confrontation.
Sorely misses G-Max Steelsurge and Power Whip being lost in the generational transition.

Movesets

Heavy Investment

--Heavy Slam
-Heat Crash
-Earthquake
-Knock Off
Ability: Heavy Metal
Item: Assault Vest
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature

Offensive Copperajah is a stellar example of a bulky attacker, using its great HP and typing to get in and force severe damage on the opponent. This set makes use of Heavy Metal to double Copperajah's weight, making both Heavy Slam and Heat Crash incredibly consistent for dealing damage reaching base 100 power on Pokémon as heavy as Kyurem (or more practically Orthworm, Alolan Golem and Coalossal), while it isn't until you get to Pokémon as heavy as Snorlax that Heavy Slam is outright weaker than Iron Head. Admittedly the math changes a bit with Sheer Force Iron Head, which slightly out damages all but max power Heavy Slam, but that still covers a huge range of Pokémon up to the likes of Hariyama and Glalie still taking max damage from Heavy Slam and Heat Crash. Heat Crash is important due to it being Copperajah's best answer against Orthworm who otherwise is a solid wall against Copperajah as well as threaten Bronzong after Knock Off. Earthquake is for the other Steel and Electric types that resist Copperajah's Heavy Slam on top the Fire types do that and directly threaten Copperajah. Knock Off rounds out the set, not for its neutral coverage, but for the pure disruption it provides, allowing for Copperajah to make progress even against Pokémon that do wall it like Avalugg, Tauros-Aqua, and Fluffy Houndstone.

Tera Types:
While Steel is a fantastic defensive type, it does have its failings, both offensively and defensively. However, due to Copperajah's poor Speed it is largely a defensive Tera type user, even on offensive sets due to its poor Speed mandating it takes a hit before acting. Tera Dragon is recommended due to the valuable resistances to Water and Fire it provides while all the weaknesses were originally resists, making a misprediction on the opponent's part costly. Tera Fairy is another solid alternative as an all around good defensive type with a valuable resistance to Fighting while being difficult to exploit. Tera Flying is another go to defensive option for Steel types thanks to the resistance to Fighting and Immunity to Ground it provides.

EVs and Items:
As an offensive set, Max Attack is a matter of fact, though there is a bit more nuance when it comes to how to invest defensively. While Max HP is a given for the general bulk boost it provides, when running Assault Vest, running Max Special Defense can be utilized to maximize Special hit taking ability. With Max Special Defense, Goodra only 3HKOs with Fire Blast, Toxitricity and Inteleon struggle to 2HKO, and Specs Hoopa and Hisuian-Typhlosion miss out on the OHKO. With Max HP, Bronzong can only 3HKO with Body Press, Decidueye becomes unfavored to 2HKO, Avalugg, Hariyama, and Flygon all miss the OHKO while Brute Bonnet comes incredibly unfavored to OHKO. Assault Vest is recommended as the item, patching up one of Copperajah's defenses.

Partners:
: Given how Copperajah struggles to break through prominent physical walls, allies that can do so in its place are greatly appreciated. Raikou is an excellent example if not running Supercell Slam, able to blast down Tauros-Aqua with ease and deal serious damage to the others while potentially luring in Ground types for a nasty Scald Burn. Toxtricity also works well in this regard its sheer power compromising walls for Copperajah to clean up. Both also have access to Volt Switch to pivot and get Copperajah in relatively safely if not under threat by a Ground type. Chandelure and Munkidori are other powerful special breakers that can effectively compromise or dispatch threats that Copperajah can't, the former dealing with Avalugg, and both being powerful anti-Fighting pivots while Chandelure can't easily exploit the Fire STAB from other attackers for a boost. Sadly the shared Ground weakness is a pain point. Vaporeon deserves special mention for the massive Wishes it can pass, addressing one of Copperajah's biggest failings in its lack of reliable recovery and allowing it to play a longer game. Vaporeon easily switching into Fire attacks and threatening opposing Ground types is a nice bonus and Copperajah can use opposing Grass attacks as an easy way in..

Other Options:
Supercell Slam is Copperajah's best answer into Tauros-Aqua and to a lesser extent other Water types, but is easily punishable by a Ground type pivot or Tera. If wanting a bit more consistency on Copperajah's STAB, Iron Head with Sheer Force is a solid option in its own right, but precludes running Heat Crash. Play Rough is one of Copperajah's few moves that gets the Sheer Force boost and between addressing Fighting types and synergizing with Tera Fairy offensively is a strong argument for it. Zen Headbutt also gets the Sheer Force boost and can threaten Fighting types as well as the rare Weezing.

Elephant Shuffle

-Stealth Rock
-Knock Off
-Whirlwind
-Iron Head
Ability: Sheer Force
Item: Leftovers
EVs and Nature:
252 HP / 228 SDef / 28 Spe
Careful Nature

This Copperajah set compresses just about everything one would want in a hazard setter into a single set, while going all in on Copperajah’s bulk to control the hazard game. Stealth Rock is the lone hazard Copperajah gets, but its guaranteed damage on everything is invaluable in punishing repositioning and chip foes down into knock out range for Copperajah or its partners. Knock Off pairs incredibly well with Stealth Rock for its ability to remove Heavy-Duty Boots, heavily disincentivizing Defog and Rapid Spin users from coming in to remove Copperajah’s Stealth Rocks and outright punishing them if they do. This can greatly limit how freely an opponent can pivot in the presence of Stealth Rocks, especially those weak to it like Fire types. Whirlwind serves a dual purpose, both as a mechanism to rack up Stealth Rock damage, and as a pHazing tool to prevent setup sweepers from getting out of hand. Iron Head rounds out the set as Copperajah’s main form of offense when not playing the hazard game. Between Sheer Force and Copperajah’s insane base attack, the fact that this is primarily a defensive set means little in the face of the sheer damage Copperajah can wreak.

Tera Types:
While Steel is a fantastic defensive type, it does have its failings, both offensively and defensively. However, due to Copperajah’s poor Speed it is largely a defensive Tera type user, even on offensive sets due to its poor Speed mandating it takes a hit before acting. Tera Dragon is recommended due to the valuable resistances to Water and Fire it provides while all the weaknesses were originally resists, making a misprediction on the opponent’s part costly. Tera Fairy is another solid alternative as an all around good defensive type with a valuable resistance to Fighting while being difficult to exploit. Tera Flying is another go to defensive option for Steel types thanks to the resistance to Fighting and Immunity to Ground it provides. Given this set’s focus on Stealth Rock setup and hazard shuffling, Tera Ghost to deny Rapid Spin from clearing entry hazards is an option. The immunity to Fighting it provides is a significant bonus as well.

EVs and Items:
As this Copperajah set is all about setting up hazards and forcing opponents out with whirlwind, maximizing its bulk investment is recommended. The 28 Speed EVs is just for outrunning Bronzong so Copperajah isn’t ruined by Bronzong’s Body Presses and can land a Knock Off before Bronzong uses Iron Defense. Whether to invest more in physical or Special Defense is a matter of choice. Generally physical attackers are more likely to carry super effective coverage for Copperajah in Fighting and Ground attacks due to physical coverage options being more plentiful, making it more likely for Copperajah to stave off a Special Attacker. Conversely, Rapid Spin and Defog users tend to be more physical, so physical investment may be prudent to limit the damage Copperajah takes from them. Leftovers is highly recommended for this set. As Copperajah has no other means of reliable healing, Leftovers is needed to increase its longevity.

Partners:
: Dragon types make for excellent partners for Copperajah. Evoking the Dragon plus Steel type strategies found in the fifth generation, the two types are incredibly synergistic with Dragons handling the Fire types that threaten to make quick work of Copperajah as well as the Water and Electric types this set struggles to deal with and Copperajah tanking all manner of Ice, Fairy and Dragon attacks. Flygon and Altaria take this a step further both being immune to Ground. Flygon loves the extra chip damage Copperajah deals for reaching knock outs on top of handily dealing with opposing Steel types. Altaria has a better matchup into opposing Fighting types and can cripple physical attackers in general with Will-O-Wisp making it that much harder to remove Copperajah. Vaporeon deserves special mention for the massive Wishes it can pass, addressing one of Copperajah’s biggest failings in its lack of reliable recovery and allowing it to play a longer game. Vaporeon easily switching into Fire attacks and threatening opposing Ground types is a nice bonus and Copperajah can use opposing Grass attacks as an easy way in.

Countering Copperajah

Copperajah’s immense power and bulk do make it a challenge to take down, though neither are insurmountable.

Physical walls are recommended against most Copperajah. While it is true that none of them like eating a Knock Off, most physical walls not sitting at the same base 30 Speed can arrest if not stop Copperajah. Rotom-Heat is one of the best immediate answers to Copperajah, resisting everything except Knock Off (which struggles to 3HKO) or the near unseen Rock coverage and threatening immediate damage with Overheat, or just cripple Copperajah with Will-O-Wisp. Avalugg despite its weakness to Heavy Slam and Iron Head, easily outlasts Copperajah with Recover and threatens obscene damage with Body Press. Fluffy Houndstone too takes pittance from both Knock Off and Heat Crash, being 3HKO’d at best by Heat Crash, and threatens an easy 2HKO back with Body Press or can also cripple with Will-O-Wisp. Swampert, while prone to being worn down is 3HKO’d by Earthquake at best and threatens Copperajah back with its own Earthquakes. If not running Heat Crash, Orthworm solidly walls Copperajah and makes quick work of it with Body Press. On Copperajah lacking Supercell Slam, bulky Water types like Vaporeon, and Tauros-Aqua also can comfortably tank Copperajah’s assault, though the latter must be wary of Play Rough as well. If not running Earthquake, Steel and Fire types become major issues, especially Arcanine and Tauros-Blaze with their Attack sapping Intimidate.

Offensively checking Copperajah is a bit more of a chore. For as much as its poor defenses let it down, its HP is truly impressive, requiring powerful Super effective blows to ensure the OHKO. The only neutral attack that can OHKO Copperajah is Adaptability Mystic Water Basculegion’s Wave Crash and that is assuming Copperajah doesn’t invest in Defense. Otherwise Chandelure, Tauros-Blaze, Banded Golurk, Pawmot, Incineroar, Banded Staraptor, Hisuian-Typhlosion, Flamigo, Infernape and Braviary can all OHKO even through Assault Vest.

However, one need not OHKO Copperajah to check it. Its lack of recovery makes Copperajah easy to wear down and its horrid speed means it has to tank a hit before acting.

Anime Appearences

Copperajah has made a few anime appearances. Most notably Rose used one against Ash to stop Ash from stopping his plans. Poppy also used one in Paldea in her battles against the Rising Volt Tacklers # -English Episode Name- -Jp. Episode Name- Pics 1133 Sword and Shield: From Here to Eternatus! Sword & Shield III: Eternatus Pics 1134 Sword and Shield: The Legends Awaken! Sword & Shield IV: Ultimate Sword & Shield Pics 55 Showdown! The Paldea Elite Four! Showdown! The Paldea Elite Four! Pics 56 Liko VS. Rika! Toward the Battle's End Liko VS Rika! At the End of the Battle Pics